Gray Morals
by Leopardfire892
Summary: It has been two moons since Graystripe and Millie left the barn cats on their quest to find ThunderClan. After a fire destroys their home and kills their family, Little Mew, Pad, Birdy and Raindrop set off to find the Clans and join Graystripe. Adopted from tr1xx777
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Little Mew P.O.V

I slowly crept up behind Birdy. The light silver she-cat was crouching with her back turned to me, dabbing at a beetle on the ground. Totally unaware that I was only a couple rabbit-lengths behind her. I wriggled my haunches, whiskers twitching in amusement. Suddenly I exploded forward, landing on top of my sister. She yelped and flailed, flopping limply onto her side. I squirmed my way off of her, waving my tail.

"Little Mew! I was playing with that beetle- now it's escaped," Birdy snapped. She threw herself at me, and we rolled over in the scruffy grass beside the barn. Soon we were joined by Raindrop and Pad, who launched themselves into battle with us. I growled playfully as I gently snagged Raindrop's tail with my teeth and tugged her backwards. She spun around and swiped at me, and I darted backwards, just out of reach.

Finally we all broke apart, panting. The late afternoon sunlight warmed our backs. Dirt had been kicked up by our churning paws, and our pelts were ruffled and dusty. Birdy set to grooming herself.

"That was fun," Raindrop announced. "What should we do next?"

I rolled my eyes. Raindrop was always full of energy, leaping headfirst into one game after another. She was often a fun cat to be around, but she could sometimes be rather insensitive. Birdy was the opposite- she was more shy and quiet, and the kindest cat I knew. Not that I knew many cats. But if I did, I couldn't imagine one being nicer than Birdy.

I shrugged. "I'm hungry," I meowed. "We should go hunt."

"Good idea," Pad readily agreed.

Raindrop shrugged. "Alright, I guess."

Birdy said nothing, but followed us as we trekked into the barn.

Inside, it was cool and shady. The musty smell of hay and straw drifted through the air. Straining my ears, I could hear the tiny squeaks of mice scurrying in the dark. We walked to the edge of the straw and stood there, tasting the air.

"Over there," Pad hissed quietly, tilting his head toward the strongest scent. We crept up to a small tunnel through the straw. Pad and Birdy circled around the sides, leaving Raindrop and I crouched in front. Suddenly Birdy and Pad leaped into the mound of straw, digging down into it. I tensed, waiting. A little brown mouse raced out, right into Raindrop's claws. I caught another, while a third got away, diving into the safety of a nearby mound.

We did the same thing with the next mound of straw, only this time Raindrop and I leaped on top. More mice scurried out. Two of them blundered into Pad, who easily killed them. Raindrop launched herself off of the mound, disappearing for a moment, then popped back up with a mouse. Birdy pounced on another.

We did one more mound, then piled the fresh-kill beside the barn doors. The sun was beginning to sink in the sky, turning it vibrant shades of orange and pink. Birdy trotted off to find Husker, Moss, and Splash so that we could share the mice.

Moss purred when she saw the pile of fresh-kill. "You are all turning into such great hunters," she meowed. Raindrop, Birdy, Pad and I puffed out our chests in pride.

We all settled down to eat the mice outside in the last bit of light before the sun disappeared completely. Then we wandered into the barn, curled up together in our nests in the straw, and began drowsily sharing tongues. I drifted off to sleep to the sound of contented purrs.

It was the smell that woke me. A sharp, acrid smell that burned my throat. I remembered a similar scent from the time the twolegs had burned a huge pile of brush in an open field. Sleepily I looked around, but couldn't see anything from our mostly hidden corner, although the barn seemed brighter than I thought it would be. I reached out, nudging the body next to me. It was Pad.

"What? What is it?" He whispered. Suddenly he grimaced. "What is that smell?"

"Wake the others," I meowed. Birdy was already lifting her head, her yellow-green eyes confused. Pad woke Splash, who in turn woke Husker and Moss. Birdy was trying to wake Raindrop, but the dark gray she-cat was a heavy sleeper. Finally, in frustration, Birdy bit Raindrop's tail- none too gently.

Raindrop pulled her tail away, looking only half awake. "Wha's that?" She asked, her words slurred with sleep. "Something nibbled on my-" she yawned, "-tail."

I ignored her. A red glow was shining from behind the mound that we were nestled into. Suddenly flames sprang into view, swiftly racing across the barn wall until it reached our corner. Husker saw it too.

"Fire!" He screeched. We all shook off the last of our sleepiness at the word. Already the top of the pile of straw we had been sleeping by was beginning to burn. I raced to the edge of the straw, then drew back in horror. Beyond the straw, flames had spread to the doors. The heat made my eyes water. The others appeared at my side.

"What are we going to do?" Birdy whimpered. "We're trapped!"

The fire had spread to the roof now. I crouched, frozen with fear. The sliding doors of the barn were burning fiercely. I stared at the small gap that we used to squeeze in and out. It was getting harder and harder to see it as the smoke thickened. Above us, one of the main beams that stretched from one side of the barn was on fire. The fire was surrounding us now.

"We have to get to the doors," Splash was meowing.

"The twolegs will come, won't they?" Birdy meowed, her voice trembling. "They'll fix this."

Hope soared through me. But it plummeted when Husker spoke.

"We can't wait for them. We have to get out now."

The barn creaked and groaned. The walls had the worst of the fire, and they were holding the weight of the entire roof. I glanced up fearfully. The main beam was steadily burning away.

"Alright. On three, we run for the door," Moss meowed. "I'll lead. Ready?" She paced to the front of the group, peering around the corner. "One, two, three!"

She charged out. I followed her, stumbling over a piece of burning straw. When I looked up, Moss was gone, the haze of the some concealing her path. I spun around. Where were the others?

A large crack and crash sounded, and I heard cries somewhere ahead of me. I raced forward, running into Pad. We tumbled to the ground, and I struggled to my paws with a quick glance around. One of the beams had given in to the fire and fallen.

Birdy hauled Pad up. "We have to hurry!" She screeched, her eyes wide. She shoved us forward. Just ahead was the gap. To my left I saw Raindrop. She was crouched in the middle of the floor. The fallen beam had narrowly missed her, it appeared.

I darted over and grabbed her scruff. "Come on!" I mumbled through a mouthful of fur. I dragged her toward the gap. Birdy raced out, with Pad on her heels. I followed my brother's tail, pulling Raindrop along with me. Finally she started to run, and I let go as we fled the barn.

The four of us stopped in the shelter of a small bush several fox lengths away. We crouched there, coughing.

"Where's Husker and Splash? And Moss?" I choked out.

Birdy shook her head. "I don't know!" She wailed. "Moss disappeared! And then… I don't know what happened!"

"Husker saved me," Raindrop whispered. "He pushed me out of the way before the beam fell."

Silence settled over us. I didn't want to believe that the rest of my family was dead. But it seemed that way… I buried my head in my paws. Vaguely I heard Birdy speak.

"What are we going to do now?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Raindrop P.O.V

_What are we going to do?_

Birdy's trembling meow echoed in my head as I crouched, staring at the ground. _We're alone now. How are we going to survive? _

"We have to find shelter," Little Mew was insisting.

I forced myself to stand up. "Little Mew is right," I meowed, turning to scan our surroundings. From here, the burning barn was a bright smear in the darkness. Shivering, I looked the other way. "There. That bush looks good," I meowed, waving my tail at a tall bush several fox-lengths away. Without waiting for the others to agree, I trudged toward it.

Pawsteps thudded behind me and then Birdy was pressed against my side. Little Mew and Pad walked on my other side, and we all marched slowly forward. I sighed in relief when we reached the bush. Wiggling under the branches, I curled up, pressed against Birdy and Pad with Little Mew on the other side of Birdy. I missed the warm barn, with our nests in the hay and Moss, Husker and Splash curled up with us.

We huddled there in silence. Eventually, the others fell asleep, but I stayed awake. I stared up at the stars. Part of me was angry at them. The sky should be pouring down rain. If it had rained, maybe this never would have happened. The stars shouldn't be twinkling so cheerfully down on us.

But another part of me was glad they were there. If it were raining now, we would be wet and even colder. And the stars and the moon provided a little bit of light. I thought about what Graystripe had once said, that the stars were warriors who had died but were still watching over the Clans. I wondered if they watched over other cats, outside of the Clans. I wished they would watch over us.

I fell asleep at some point. When I woke, the sky was lightening. Beside me, Birdy whimpered in her sleep, then fell silent once more.

"Morning."

I jerked in surprise at the voice behind me.

Pad snorted a little. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't scare me," I muttered. "I was just startled."

Beside Birdy, Little Mew stirred and sat up. His pelt was ruffled, the fur on his head standing straight up. He gave a huge yawn, blinking his green eyes.

"Morning," Pad meowed. "Now we just need Birdy."

I poked at my sister. She shifted, but didn't wake up. Irritated, I nudged her again, a little harder this time. She opened her eyes, stretching and sitting up.

"You guys look terrible," she meowed sleepily, studying us.

"You should see yourself," I told her. She shrugged and began grooming herself, smoothing her silver fur into place.

"We need to decide what to do now," Pad meowed. "I think we should go back to the barn, just… in case."

Little Mew nodded. "Okay."

We slid out from under the bush. I fixed my eyes on the barn. It was a gray lump standing out from the hills. Beyond it was the cornfield, and about a tree length from it was the house.

We set out at a steady pace, but as we came closer and closer to the barn I dragged my paws, falling behind my siblings. I had to force myself to move. _I don't want to go there. I don't want to…_

"Hurry up, Raindrop!" Little Mew called back.

I took a deep breath and hurried to catch up. We reached the front of the barn and stopped. I stared up. Part of the roof had collapsed, and the doors were scorched.

"Let's go," I meowed quickly. I didn't wan to stay here any longer. To my relief, the others nodded and we walked past the barn towards the cornfield. We were all silent. The only sound was our pawsteps in the grass. At the edge of the corn we sat down. For a while no one spoke. Then Pad voiced the question that we were no doubt all thinking.

"So… What are we doing? Where are we going? We could stay here, with the… twolegs."

"No!" I said sharply. I didn't want to stay here. Not without Husker and Moss and Splash.

Little Mew looked thoughtful. Finally he mewed "I don't want to stay here either. Birdy, what do you think?"

We all turned to Birdy.

"I think… We should leave," she meowed slowly. "But where would we go?"

I stared into the rows of corn. Where _would _we go? How would we survive? We couldn't hunt very well in the wild. In the barn it was easy- the mice came to us. And there were predators out there, foxes and badgers. We were too young to be on our own. We were only about six moons old. That was how old Graystripe said apprentices were, wasn't it?

Suddenly I jumped to my paws in excitement. "Graystripe!" I meowed eagerly.

"What?" Little Mew asked.

"We go after Graystripe and Millie. Find the Clans," I answered.

Pad looked doubtful. "If they even found the Clans. And how would we-"

"Of _course _they found the Clans," Birdy meowed confidently. "And we can, too. They can't be too far away. Some cat must know about them. We could do it." She was beginning to look excited.

Little Mew leaped up, his eyes sparkling. "We should! We should. Come on, Pad!"

Pad slowly nodded. "Okay," he said simply.

New energy coursed through me. "Then come on!" I meowed, turning. "Let's go!"

**A/N: It's short, sorry. But the next one will be longer, I promise :)**


End file.
